Jewish Prayers Trigger Security Alert On Mexico-LA Flight

Orthodox Jews began a prayer ritual on board an LA-bound Alaska Airlines flight that concerned the crew who put the cockpit in lockdown.

The men, all Mexican nationals, began the ritual that involves tying leather straps and small wooden boxes to the body, and the crew of Flight 241 alerted the cockpit, airline spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said.

“Shortly after takeoff, a flight attendant saw what she believed was unusual behavior from three passengers on board,” Egan said in a statement. “The three passengers were praying aloud in Hebrew and were wearing what appeared to be leather straps on their foreheads and arms…

FBI and customs agents along with police and a full assignment of fire trucks met the plane at the gate at Los Angeles International Airport, and the men were escorted off.

The black boxes are known as Tefillin and contain handwritten Biblical verses.